Newsletter for May 2004

Inside this issue:

New Rape Escape Instructors from NY and AZ Courses
New DVD for Combat Martial Artists
Rule Number One of Gunfighting
Best Abdominal Exercises
The Logic in Fighting Back
The Ultimate Distraction Tool
Shutting the Barn Door After the Horse is Gone

 “No man is fit to command another that cannot command himself.”

William Penn

New Rape Escape Instructors from NY and AZ Courses

Women around the country can look to a new group of people in their communities with specialized knowledge which could make them safer in the future.

There are 29 new Certified Rape Escape Instructors across the country following courses in New York and Phoenix recently.

The new instructors successfully completed intense, two-day courses from Defend University which gives them the tools to teach women the popular Rape Escape method of rape prevention and self-defense.

The instructors come from a variety of backgrounds including law enforcement, women’s advocacy, martial arts, public teaching, medicine and domestic violence counseling.

For the New York course, the following instructors have been certified:

Kristen Anderson; Thorndale, New York
Paul Berger; Scarsdale, New York
Eric Buzzetto; North Salem, New York
Ernest Cebrian, Sr.; New York
Jennifer Chemerov; Congers, New York
Thomas Farrington: New York
Paul Gersfeld; Tarrytown, New York
Andrew Hopkinson; New York
Missy Larzelere; New York
Donna McCarron; Plainsboro, New Jersey
Martin McDonald; New York
Darin Magras; Staten Island, New York
Laura Owen; New York
Sharon Sawler; New York
Mary Sireci; New York

For the Phoenix course, the following instructors have been certified:

Lisa Auiumu; Bellingham, Washington
Tracie Arlington; San Diego, California
Jeff Barczak; Dallas, Texas
Diana Concannon; Palos Verdes, California
Jason Cruz; Chicago, Illinios
Tammy Kelly; Dallas, Texas
Michael Mayles; Sao Paolo, Brazil
Victor Ooi; Malaysia
Dr. Josephine Ruiz-Healy; San Antonio, Texas
Tom Striplin; Mt. Savage, Maryland
Robert Trotter; Chicago, Illinois
David White; Kenora, Ontario, Canada
Chris Wiley; Torrance, California
Terra Wise; San Francisco, California

The Rape Escape method is a women’s self-defense curriculum that is taught unlike other courses in that students are specifically taught to avoid a man’s strengths while employing their own unique strengths against a man’s weakest targets. The course motto is “Fight Like a Girl” and focuses on the most common sexual assault scenarios. Students use full contact responses against instructors wearing special armored suits.

Rape Escape is designed to give the average girl or woman the tools needed to physically resist a sexual assault. The instructors will also be able to offer a special curriculum called “Reduce the Odds” which is designed especially for high school and college women.

The next Rape Escape Instructor Certification Course is scheduled for Oct. 2-3 in Dublin, Ireland.

For more information, go to www.rapeescape.com.

New DVD for Combat Martial Artists

The new Yoga for the Combat Arts is now available on Defend Gear (www.defendgear.com).

Featuring Greg Holmes, Yoga for the Combat Arts has been specially designed for the martial artist in mind.  No chanting and no mystical mumbo jumbo.  Just a 48-minute routine that provides flexibility, strength, range of motion and muscle balance.   Whether you are in Karate, Judo, Jiu-Jitsu, MMA or any combat martial art, this program can propel you to a new level in your development.

Some of the best reality fighters in the world (Rickson Gracie is one example) incorporate yoga into their routines.  Now you can have a routine that gives you a decided physical advantage when you step onto the battlefield – be it your dojo or the street.  And you can follow the routine in the privacy of your home. 

Greg Holmes is an international martial arts champion, traditional weapons expert, combat athlete and yoga instructor.  He holds multiple black belts and has 20 years of experience in traditional Karate, Kobudo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.  I know him and he is strong, fast and flexible.  He knows what he's talking about and this routine has worked for him.  If you follow it, it will work for you too.

The format is DVD-R  NTSC and the running time is 57 minutes.  Produced by Defend University, the price is $29.99.  Go to www.defendgear.com.

Rule Number One of Gunfighting

1.  Always have a gun.

Best Abdominal Exercises

 Okay, you’ve seen all the infomercials for the abdominal machines and ab exercises.  Which ones are the best and which ones are junk?

A recent study conducted by the Biomechanics Lab at San Diego State University identified the top three abdominal exercises.  Go here to see the top three and how to perform them.

The Logic in Fighting Back

“When it is time to act, many people are unsure how they should respond. For many years there has been a number of well-meaning ‘experts’ who have suggested, particularly to women:

‘If you’re ever assaulted, don’t fight back. This will only make the attacker angry.’

“There are several problems with type of thinking. First of all, a criminal assault is not the act of someone who is calm. Any ‘attacker’ is already angry. The idea of trying not to antagonize an attacker further takes an already dangerous situation and makes it worse. The flaw with this logic is that it creates a climate where you deliberately make yourself agreeable to the wishes of the attacker. By doing this, you are completely at his mercy. By definition, attackers are not merciful. Passivity removes you from having any active role in your own survival. This is what I refer to as ‘suicide via compliance’. What most people do not realize is that fighting back does not make things worse.

“Crime statistics consistently support this thought. Several studies focusing on violence against women revealed that out of 600 female victims surveyed, 44 percent were able to deter their attacker and avoid rape by actively resisting. This suggests that almost 300 more women in the study pool would have been sexually assaulted if they had not fought back.

“Fighting back and attempting to escape are the highest percentage options you have for surviving a street attack situation.”

Mike Gillette
Training Director
National Law Enforcement and Security Institute

The Ultimate Distraction Tool

 “In the last decade, oleoresin capsicum spray (pepper spray) has caught on in a big way and today it is the rare officer who doesn’t carry it. I tend to think of OC as the ultimate distraction tool, which minimally will soften up a bad guy long enough to effectively utilize another control measure. Like any other tool or technique, it is not 100% effective, but it will usually alter the thought process of most resistive or aggressive subjects. “

Mike Boyle

To browse through the different types of pepper sprays for defensive use against humans, dogs and bears, visit Defend Gear.

Shutting the Barn Door After the Horse is Gone

I get a call from a woman who has had her wallet stolen.  She wants to know if she should be worried about identity theft or burglary.

I ask her, "what did they get?"

"Driver's license, passport, social security card, credit cards, checks, cash and family photos."

Sheesh, I think, what didn't they get.  "How did you lose it?", I ask.

"I went to pick up my son from daycare and I was literally only inside for about three minutes." 

Turns out it could have been worse.  She was just inside for "three minutes", but she left the car running, the doors unlocked, her purse on the seat and her wallet in her purse.  The person or persons unknown only took the wallet.

But, boy did they hit a treasure trove of information with that wallet.  Driver's license (with her home address), social security card, passport, credit cards, checks...  About the only thing this person didn't have in the wallet was a scrap of paper with her ATM PIN on it along with her mother's maiden name.

The obvious things like canceling her credit cards and reporting her passport and license stolen will certainly be a hassle, but the fear of not knowing if her critical personal information will be used against her or if the information will be used in a future burglary or home invasion is tremendous.

If you want to extrapolate the further danger she has put herself and her family in, consider this...could a criminal use all of this personal information to talk their way into the daycare center and kidnap her child?  Certainly.

So in effect, this lapse of judgment allowing the theft of her purse could conceivably put her whole family in danger.  

 All of this could have been avoided by the recommendations you've heard before:

1.  Don't carry more than what you need on a day-to-day basis;

2.  Don't leave the keys in the car;

3.  Lock your doors.

Come on, we all know this.  With the exception of a few small towns that I've heard of in Minnesota, the days of leaving your doors unlocked and keys in the car are over.  But, how many of us let our security lapse for the sake of convenience?

Successful security and personal protection is first and foremost a mindset.  Then it is primarily a habit.  Actually, in the professional sense, successful security is a result of good procedures.  I use the word habit because the day-to-day "procedures" that you follow need to be done routinely, habitually.  They can't be done when you feel like there is a threat.  You should habitually lock your doors, including your car doors (even when driving).  You should habitually protect your private information.  You should habitually walk with your head up aware of your surroundings.

Even if you don't feel like there has been a threat, you don't know how many times you have been briefly considered as a target by criminals, but passed over for an easier target.  I'll bet you've been "interviewed" or "cased" more times than you know.  The person who stops you on the street and asks you for the time or for a light.  The odd phone call with no one on the other end.  The person knocking on your door asking for directions.   Innocent?  Probably, but there is also the good likelihood that some of these are criminals trying to find a weak link somewhere.   

And don't think that criminals can't be women or "nice" people.  Nice people with drug habits need money.  Nothing personal here, they just need someone -- anyone -- to be foolish enough to give them the chance to take something of value.

So your security habits protect you all the time, not just when it's obvious there's going to be trouble.  Train yourself to close the barn door all the time -- not just after the horse is gone.

Go here if you want to access the newsletter archives.

Train like your life depends on it.  Someday it might.
 

Brad Parker